History Ohio Standards Connection: Benchmark A Use a calendar to determine the day, week, month and year. Indicator 1 Recite the days of the week. Lesson Summary: The children will participate in a variety of center activities to reinforce the concept of days of the week and their succession. Estimated Duration: Two hours to two hours and 30 minutes. Commentary: The estimated duration of this lesson is approximately two hours and 30 minutes for the initial lesson but the activities could be implemented over a period of time, as directed by your students needs. It is expected that the indicator for this lesson will be reinforced throughout the year. One field test participant suggested that, rather than spend the equivalent of one entire day on this lesson, students could participate in different center activities on different days throughout a week: Using each of the center ideas on different days would help to reinforce the learning and result in longer retention. The participant commented that the variety of ways in which students are engaged during this lesson is a particularly positive feature. Pre-Assessment: Have each child recite the days of the week while pointing to each day on a monthly calendar. Use a checklist to check off each day of the week that the child recites without help and add any comments to help guide instruction. An example of a checklist is given below. Student Name Comments: Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Scoring Guidelines: At this grade level, the pre-assessment is meant to help the teacher identify what background knowledge the children have and to guide instruction. There is no scoring involved. 1
Post-Assessment: The post-assessment is similar to the pre-assessment without the use of a calendar. Each child will recite the days of the week while you use a checklist to check off each day of the week that the child recites without help. Scoring Guidelines: Exceeds Expectation Acceptable Target for Improvement Recites the days of the week in order and uses the days of the week in daily conversation. (e.g., The child may say, I get to go to the pool on Tuesday. ) Recites the days of the week in order. Sings or partially recites the days of the week. Note: Each child will have multiple opportunities throughout the year to obtain mastery. For instance, each child will have a turn as a calendar helper at least one time per month. Ongoing informal assessment is also expected throughout the year in the form of observation and conversation. Instructional Procedures: 1. Introduce the lesson by telling the students that they are going to learn the days of the week. Have an enlarged weekly calendar to use as a visual aid for students (i.e., posted on a wall or chalkboard, an overhead projector, chart or butcher paper). Lead a discussion by asking the children their thoughts on the importance of knowing the days of the week. Walk the students through the days of the week, pointing out each day to them. This can be done as a whole class or by asking the students guiding questions like "Who can put their finger on Monday?" As you focus on each day, ask the children to comment on an event that happens on that day. (e.g., Monday is the first day of school each week; Tuesday is gym day. ) 2. Use a video, song or children's literature (picture book) about the days of the week to reinforce what the students are learning. For example: If you choose a song that helps teach the days of the week, teach the students the song and have them practice it several times. If you choose a video, show it once for the students to gain a general understanding of its content. Then play the video again, pausing it where necessary and asking guiding questions about the content. It may be that the video also contains a song about the days of the week, so students could practice the song as well. If you choose to read a story aloud, have the students listen during the first reading to gain a general understanding of the content. Then read the story aloud a second time, asking guiding questions about the text and using illustrations to reinforce the content in the text. This can also be done by using a poem or book of poems, as well as nursery rhymes. 2
3. Introduce the class to the different centers. This is a good time to review any center rules you may have to help students use their time and stay on task. Tell the students what the signal will be to move from one center to another (i.e., ring a bell, chime, turn lights on/off). 4. To participate in the following centers and activities, divide the children into four heterogeneous groups. Each group has 15-20 minutes to work at each center (time varies and is best left to individual teacher's judgment). Have the groups rotate through the centers under the direction of the teacher, using the agreed-upon signal. Track students so that they have the opportunity to engage in all centers over an extended period of time. Instructional Tip: This lesson is easily adapted to add, delete or change the number and types of centers based on any classroom constraints and the needs of the students. Instead of the class being divided into groups to rotate between centers, students might be asked to select centers to visit and work independently during free-choice time. In addition, this lesson can be made into a week-long lesson/unit by taking the focus of each center's activities and extending it throughout the day (with the addition of a fifth center or culminating activity on the fifth weekday). 5. Possible centers include: Center #1 (or Day One) - Literature The books/poems/nursery rhymes at this center should be relevant to the days of the week. Have someone (i.e., teacher, adult/parent volunteer, an older student from an upper grade) read a story/poem/nursery rhyme aloud to the students about the days of the week. Have the students listen the first time, then reread the piece pointing out the days of the week (or the sequence of events pertaining to the days of the week) and have the students recite them with the reader. In addition, have books/poems on tape/cd for students to use. Instructional Tip: This can also be done with songs or through the use of a separate music center that uses songs and musical instruments to help students learn and recite the days of the week. Center #2 (or Day Two) - Floor Puzzle Provide a manufactured or teacher-made puzzle with each day of the week on a separate piece. Have students put the puzzle together, talk about the events of each day (home or school related) and then recite the days of the week in order. Center #3 (or Day Three) - Interactive Writing 1. Ask the students to recall events of the day/week that are school/class related (Monday Friday). 2. Invite them to select and talk about one special activity that happened on that day (e.g., On Tuesday, ). 3. Ask How can we put that into a sentence? 3
4. Repeat the sentence verbally and count the words using your fingers as a visual model. 5. Repeat the first word of the sentence and encourage the children to tell you what letter sound they hear in the word. 6. Choose a child to write either a letter or the entire word. 7. Continue until the sentence is complete, giving each child a turn. 8. The words in the sentence must be spelled correctly. If the children do not hear a sound or hear an incorrect letter, model the correct letter/sound. 9. Ask children to draw or make illustrations to accompany the writing piece. Center #4 (or Day Four) - Art Have each child draw a picture and write or dictate a sentence about himself/herself participating in an activity on a given day of the week. (i.e., On Tuesday, I have soccer practice.) You can have sheets of drawing paper made ahead of time for the center that might look like the diagram below: Name: On, (day of the week) I. (action word) (Student Drawing) Have students share with the others in the group and display the writing samples for the whole class on a bulletin board showing student work. Differentiated Instructional Support: Instruction is differentiated according to learner needs to help all learners either meet the intent of the specified indicator(s) or, if the indicator is already met, to advance beyond the specified indicator(s). Allow students who do not write to dictate. Allow students with hearing impairments to use sign language. Provide picture clues for students to match and represent the days of the week. Have students who are working beyond the indicator keep a journal in Center #4; provide input on a daily basis. Pair partners who can support each other. 4
Allow students who have a good understanding of the concept to make their own puzzle. Extensions: Graph the weather for each day of the week. Have students keep a "journal" and write/dictate something they have done each day of the week. Ask students to illustrate each journal entry. The student s writing and illustrations can then be used to create individual books for the students. Have students write/dictate, "My Favorite Day of the Week" (tell which day and why it's the favorite) and illustrate. Each morning, compose a message of the day, or the classroom daily news, through a modeled or shared writing experience. (e.g., Today is. We will and.) Have children volunteer or be assigned to illustrate the message. Reflect or point to the day of the week on the calendar. At the end of the week or at the end of each day, use the calendar to record what happened throughout the week/day. Events recorded could be class-or child-related (e.g., Today we. or Jason tied his shoes today ). Review each day. Recite and recap important events. Homework Options and Home Connections: Instruct children to teach the days of the week song to someone outside of the classroom (i.e., parent, sibling, bus-buddy, school nurse, friend in the neighborhood, etc.). Send the words of the song home for families to practice and enjoy. Have a parent/guardian take the child to the public library to check out music, videos, and/or stories that focus on the days of the week. Suggest that families keep a calendar to record important events and appointments of the family. Ask families to revisit frequently with their child to recall the names of the days and their sequence. Send a calendar template home for the family to review concepts learned at school. Family members can use the calendar to add important events. Provide ideas/activities for each day of the month on the calendar that would reinforce specific concepts (e.g., read the child s favorite book; play rhyming games). Interdisciplinary Connections: English Language Arts Acquisition of Vocabulary Benchmark B: Read accurately high-frequency sight words. Indicator 3: Identify words in common categories such as color words, number words and directional words. Reading Process Benchmark C: Draw conclusions from information in the text. Indicator 7: Recall information from a story by sequencing pictures and events. 5
Writing Processes Benchmark G: Publish writing samples for display or sharing with others using techniques such as electronic resources and graphics. Indicator 9: Rewrite and illustrate writing samples for display and for sharing with others. Writing Applications Benchmark A: Compose writings that convey a clear message and include wellchosen details. Indicator 1: Dictate or write simple stories, using letters, words or pictures. Communication Benchmark A: Use active listening strategies to identify the main idea and to gain information from oral presentation. Indicator 1: Listen attentively to speakers, stories, poems and songs. Benchmark E: Deliver a variety of presentations that include relevant information and a clear sense of purpose. Indicator 6: Recite short poems, songs and nursery rhymes. Materials and Resources: The inclusion of a specific resource in any lesson formulated by the Ohio Department of Education should not be interpreted as an endorsement of that particular resource, or any of its contents, by the Ohio Department of Education. The Ohio Department of Education does not endorse any particular resource. The Web addresses listed are for a given site s main page, therefore, it may be necessary to search within that site to find the specific information required for a given lesson. Please note that information published on the Internet changes over time, therefore the links provided may no longer contain the specific information related to a given lesson. Teachers are advised to preview all sites before using them with students. For the teacher: Writing paper, chart paper, butcher paper, or overhead transparencies and projector, markers/crayons/colored pencils, correction tape, cassette tape/cd player, books on tape/cd about days of the week, music about days of the week, children's literature (stories, poems, nursery rhymes) about days of the week, videos about days of the week, music about days of the week. For the students: Crayons, pencils, paper. Vocabulary: Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 6
week month calendar day time Technology Connections: Use an audio tape recorder or CD player for students to use to listen to books, songs, etc. Use clipart software or access to the Internet. Use audiovisual equipment such as an overhead projector, TV and VCR. Use graphic organizing software to demonstrate days of the week. Place pictures under each day that would describe that day of the week. The cafeteria serves pizza every Thursday; place a pizza under the word Thursday. Make a story board with the pictures about each day of the week. Students could learn to click and go through the story board. Sound clips could be placed on each slide to say the day of the week. For a foreign language connection, you could also put a sound clip of the day of the week in another language. Research Connections: Marzano, R. et al. Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement, Alexandria, Va: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2001. Nonlinguistic representations help students think about and recall knowledge. This includes the following: Creating graphic representations (organizers); Making physical models; Generating mental pictures; Drawing pictures and pictographs; Engaging in kinesthetic activity. Daniels, H. and M. Bizar, M. Methods that Matter: Six Structures for Best Practice Classrooms, Me: Stenhouse Publishers, 1998. Authentic experiences help students develop real-world knowledge and skills, and apply their learning in ways that prepare them for their careers and lives beyond school. 7